


The Moon Howls

by wasterella



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Erujean, Traumatized Jean, courting, werewolf Erwin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-17 05:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13652358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasterella/pseuds/wasterella
Summary: It had been three months since a crazy bitch had tried to kill his best friend in a warehouse for a weird magical ritual, and Jean still wasn't entirely over his own trauma.Adding in a group of mongrels moving into town, one of which had set his sights on him, and Jean was in for a lot more than he thought he could handle.Jean really wasn't okay.





	The Moon Howls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Keyvvi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keyvvi/gifts).



> HAPPY FRIENDIVERSARY KEYVVI!! <3<3<3<3<3<3  
> 02/14/2016
> 
> I said I wasn't going to write this, but when I tried to think of what to write for you I was drawing a blank and threw my hands up and decided on this. The other idea I had was too long and wouldn't be done on time, and you know I don't like that so I hope this is okay :) It's not necessarily happy, but well, it's a start for them :P
> 
> Anyone who hasn't read [Good Enough to Eat](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8972311/chapters/20514418) might not understand this, but it might also be okay as a stand-alone... Anyway, hope you enjoy KV <3<3<3<3<3<3<3
> 
> SNK (c) Isayama Hajime  
> Mariokart (c) Nintendo

**[Erwin]**  
Do you prefer banana bread with or without nuts?

**[Jean]**  
why are you asking me about banana bread?  
**[Jean]**  
i don’t like banana bread  
**[Jean]**  
i don’t NEED banana bread  
**[Jean]**  
DO NOT bring me banana bread!  
**[Jean]**  
stay out there, in trost, far away from me

**[Erwin]**  
Eren advised you prefer them without nuts.

“Damn you!” Jean screamed at his phone, giving it a fierce shake and ignoring the concerned look he was getting from Hannes. He tried to think of something to respond with, then decided it was better not to encourage him and changed tactics.

**[Jean]**  
shitforbrains stop betraying me to the enemy!!!

He threw his phone down and went back to what he was researching, a webpage open on one half of his screen and a word document open on the other. He’d gotten another ten bullet points done before his phone trilled again. Picking it up, he scowled at Eren’s response and typed back a reply rather forcefully.

His thumbs hurt.

**[Eren]**  
???

**[Jean]**  
ERWIN dude!  
**[Jean]**  
ERWIN!  
**[Jean]**  
stop telling him personal shit about me  
**[Jean]**  
he’s probably with a caster RIGHT NOW trying to figure out a spell to make me fall in love with him!!!!!!

**[Eren]**  
and he’s doing this with banana bread?

**[Jean]**  
MAYBE!!!!

**[Eren]**  
good night jean

**[Jean]**  
youre a bad friend eren. bad friend.

Jean threw his phone down again and rubbed at his face with both hands, dragging them down and pulling at his skin so it contorted his expression. Hannes gave him a weird look and Jean sighed, dropping his hands and slapping the laptop shut.

He couldn’t concentrate when Erwin started texting him, it made his brain go off into panic mode. It wasn’t that he didn’t _like_  Erwin or anything. He liked him well enough, the guy was nice, they’d bonded or whatever while almost dying in the warehouse, but he was starting to freak him out a little.

The Werewolf didn’t visit often, but whenever he did, he was all over Jean, and not in a sexy way—which, actually, was a good thing. But he kept scent-marking him. Like, to the point where he could be gone for days and Levi would smirk at him and tell him he still smelled like Erwin no matter _how_  many showers he took!

Jean hadn’t signed up for this. Jean hadn’t signed up for the Werewolves, and the Casters, and being kidnapped and chained in a warehouse and peeing his pants and being laughed at by paramedics—okay, those last two were kind of more normal for him, but still! A year ago, he’d been living the good life, and now he was scared to go to sleep at night.

Everything was real, nothing was okay, and Jean hated his life.

Sighing and getting to his feet, he began packing his things away, ignoring the looks he was getting from Hannes. He knew he’d been leaving earlier and earlier lately, and it hadn’t gone unnoticed. He hoped Hannes would chalk it up to PTSD which, he supposed, it pretty much was. He may not wake up from nightmares on a nightly basis anymore, but they were still frequent.

Throwing the strap of his messenger bag over his shoulder, he dug into his pocket for his wallet and headed for the front, counting out a few bills and dropping them on the counter in front of Hannes.

“See you later.”

“Sure.” He hesitated, but stopped Jean before he could turn away. “Jean. I know I’m nobody’s first choice, but if you need to talk, or...”

It was obvious Hannes felt out of sorts even saying it, but Jean just half-smiled and slapped the counter once. “Thanks, but I’m okay.”

Hannes smiled slightly and nodded. Jean turned and left the coffeeshop, checking the time on his phone. It wasn’t even nine yet, this was almost inconceivable for him. When he got outside, he stopped and stared at the phone, not sure what he should do. If he went home now, this early, his mother would worry and he knew it. He didn’t want her to worry, but he also couldn’t pretend the events of the past few months hadn’t taken a toll on him.

It had been almost three months since Annie and the others had been arrested, and two weeks since the trial. Jean knew everything was fine, that Annie, Reiner and Bertholdt were in a psychiatric facility, that nothing weird and unusual was happening in town.

But it wasn’t easy to tell his brain that. It wasn’t easy going to bed at night knowing everything that went bump in the night was real. Werewolves existed, Casters existed, Vampires and Faes and Succubi and Zombies and fucking _Slenderman_.

Like, Slenderman? Really? _Really_? Why?

Truthfully, Jean didn’t know how he was still sane. For all intents and purposes, he should’ve been rocking back and forth in a padded room wearing a straight jacket. Sometimes he wasn’t entirely sure he actually _wasn’t_  doing that and all of this weirdness with him standing outside Hannes’ coffee shop thinking about the weird turn his life had taken wasn’t just his crazy mind thinking this was reality.

Sighing and shoving his phone in his pocket, he wandered over to his truck. Sticking the key in the door, he unlocked it and then had to tug three times to get the damn thing open. He needed a new car, but he didn’t want to spend that kind of money. He needed to save up so he could move out of this place.

Not that moving out of Shiganshina was really the goal anymore. He didn’t know _what_  he wanted to do. All his grand plans had kind of flown out the window when Werewolves became real.

Hell, he and Armin hadn’t even gone on their vacation! They’d wanted to! They’d planned it down to the second, had wanted to get out, just _get out_. But the day came, and neither of them could do it. Shiganshina, for all its annoying gossip and small-town mind and weirdness was _safe_. Sure, bad things had just happened, but they knew if they suddenly went missing, Levi, Eren and Mikasa would hunt them down and bring them home. That didn’t hold true if they left.

Suddenly, leaving the safety of this small town with two Werewolves and a powerless Caster but loyal friend seemed terrifying. Jean didn’t want to risk going somewhere and getting attacked without Levi or Mikasa around to protect him.

Not that Jean _needed_  protection, thank you very much. But, you know, it was nice to have the _possibility_  of rescue if shit were to hit the fan.

A knock sounded at Jean’s window and he jumped so hard his head hit the roof and he scrambled over the partition into the passenger seat screaming, “The power of Christ compels you!”

He’d half-opened the opposite door, almost tumbling out of the truck, when he realized who’d knocked.

Three months ago, the reaction he’d just had would’ve been met with an aggrieved sigh and an eye roll. Now, after everything they’d been through, all he got was an almost imperceptible look of sympathy.

Clearing his throat, Jean pulled the passenger side door closed once more and shifted back into the driver’s seat, rolling down the window. The handle stuck and he had to really power through it, arm burning by the time he got it down all the way.

“Mikasa. Hey. What’s up?”

“I saw you sitting here for a while. Just wanted to come and check on you.”

Jean would’ve been thrilled in the past to have Mikasa coming to check on him, but he’d kind of mellowed when it came to her in the past few months. Near death experiences tended to do that to a guy.

“I’m good. Fine. Just—thinking.”

Mikasa said nothing, but he could tell she was concerned. He cleared his throat again and started the truck, buckling himself in and shifting in his seat, turning to smile at her.

“I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

She just nodded once, but didn’t look convinced that he was really okay. Jean just pulled out with a wave, truck loud enough to wake the whole neighbourhood, not that anyone was in bed at nine on a freaking Friday except for literal babies.

Turning the truck around, he pulled onto the main road and went home. He couldn’t justify staying out, and he was sure Mikasa was going to check in on him later so it was best to just be where she expected him to be.

As predicted, his mother’s face pinched with concern when he walked into the house hours before his usual arrival time. He just went to the kitchen to grab some chips, kissed his mother’s cheek on his way upstairs, and disappeared into his room pretending not to notice his parents share a worried look. He threw the chips onto his chair and set his bag on the desk so he could pull out his laptop. He got everything put back where it belonged, then grabbed the junk food and fell into his chair, opening the bag and shoving a handful of chips into his mouth.

He didn’t know what to do with his night now. It was too early to sleep, but he was too worked up to get any more research done. Video games were boring when Eren wasn’t around to get owned, and he didn’t feel like watching anything.

In the end, Jean just sat in his chair staring out the window, shoving chips into his mouth and watching the trees sway and move with the wind. He didn’t get to bed until after midnight, and the last time he looked at the clock while trying to fall asleep, it was four in the morning.

Jean hated his life.

* * *

Jean woke with a startled snort at the high pitched sound assaulting his ears. For one wild second, he thought it was an alarm—phone or fire, he didn’t know—but when his brain woke up a fraction more, he realized it was someone laughing. His mother, by the sounds of it, which had him groaning and reaching out for his phone to check the time. He knocked two unread books and his water off the nightstand before finding his phone and pulled it closer to check the time.

Just after ten. Well, at least he’d gotten _some_  sleep, which was more than he could say for the rest of his dismal week. He lay back down to attempt more of it, but his mother was still laughing, and the longer he lay there, the more awake he became. Chances were he wasn’t going to get back to sleep.

He attempted it for only a few moments longer before giving up and climbing out of bed. He felt exhausted, but that was par for the course these days, so he ignored the feeling and wandered to his desk, tapping the space bar on his laptop to wake it up.

He started to turn away when something caught his attention and he frowned. There was a sleek gray SUV sitting in their neighbour’s driveway. It seemed especially out of place, given his neighbour was a little old lady who didn’t drive anymore after almost driving her car straight into Eren’s dad’s store because her eyesight was so bad. He doubted she’d have bought herself a new car.

Maybe family was visiting. Then again, he’d never known her to have family, no one else had ever visited, but maybe they were in town or something.

Shrugging it off, Jean headed for the bathroom. He could hear his mom making a racket downstairs, cackling like a weirdo and he rolled his eyes. She was probably on the phone with one of her high school friends again. It was crazy how easily his mother returned to being a child whenever she spoke to people she knew in her youth.

Getting himself a little more awake, he went back to his room and pulled on some sweats over his boxers. It was getting warm lately, so he decided against a shirt for now and headed down the stairs, yawning widely. His mother had gone quiet, so she must’ve been off the phone by now.

When he wandered into the kitchen, she was filling the kettle with water, turning to him with a bright smile.

“Morning.”

“Accurate,” he said grumpily, which earned him a chuckle.

“Go put a shirt on, what is this, a beach resort?”

“Maybe,” Jean sat at the counter, watching her keep an eye on the water level in the kettle. When it was full, she turned the water off and set the kettle back on the base before starting it up.

“Have something to eat,” she said, nodding towards something on the counter while reaching for the tea in one of the cabinets.

Jean followed her gaze and frowned, leaning over and hissing as the cold counter pressed against his bare chest, and tugged the tin-foil wrapped item closer. When he unwrapped it, he stared down at a perfectly shaped loaf of what looked like banana bread.

Alarm bells sounded and he looked up at his mother.

“Where did you get this?” he asked slowly.

“Oh, our new neighbour just brought it over. Lovely man, very handsome.” She winked at Jean. “He’s in the living room.”

Jean was out of his seat before she’d finished talking, bolting through the kitchen and into the living room where he skid to a halt at the entrance.

Erwin turned to look at him from the couch, smiling and holding a partially empty mug of tea. “Good morning, Jean.”

Jean stomped right up to him, mind going a mile a minute and somehow completely blank at the exact same time. “What are you doing here? Why is there banana bread in my kitchen? Why are you in my house? What is going on? Stop drinking that!” Jean childishly slapped the mug out of Erwin’s hand when he raised it to take a sip.

He was sure the slap wasn’t strong enough to knock the item out of his hand, but somehow it did anyway, the mug landing with a loud thunk and tea spilling out onto the carpet.

“Jean!” His mother admonished from behind him, moving forward quickly and smacking him across the back of the head. “How rude! I’m so sorry, Erwin. He’s a little spirited, he’s not usually like this.”

“That’s all right,” Erwin said with a small chuckle and a charming smile Jean wanted to punch off his face.

He didn’t, because he’d probably only hurt himself if he did. Fucking Werewolves.

“I’m so sorry. Jean.” His mother turned to him and smacked him once more across the head, the man wincing at the abuse. “Clean this up and stop being rude. I raised you better than this.”

Grumbling, Jean headed back to the kitchen to grab a handtowel and then stomped back into the living room. His mother was still apologizing and insisting Jean was probably grumpy from being woken up. Erwin’s eyes shifted from his mother right to Jean as he walked into the living room.

Jean pointed two fingers at his eyes, then his index at Erwin, scowling angrily in an “I’m watching you!” way. He moved past his mother and knelt to scrub away at the tea on the ground, holding the mug up for his mother when she asked for it. She disappeared back into the kitchen while Jean continued to scrub at the carpet.

“This is an enjoyable sight.”

“What?” Jean asked rudely, looking up at Erwin, who was still smirking down at him.

“You on your knees. Something I didn’t know I would enjoy so much until now.”

Jean instantly got to his feet, scowling angrily. A part of him wondered if Erwin just liked riling him up, or if he honestly was interested in him. It was hard to tell sometimes, because he always smirked like Jean’s reactions were the highlight of his day.

Jean himself knew he _shouldn’t_  react, but he was worried not showing Erwin how _not_  into this he was would encourage him. If Erwin was seriously pursuing him, and Jean didn’t make it explicitly clear he was _not interested_ , then he worried Erwin would get the wrong idea.

Eren could fuck a Werewolf all he wanted, Jean wasn’t into that, thank you very much.

Except Mikasa. Who was also a Werewolf. Shit.

“What are you even doing here?” Jean hissed angrily, hand clenched around the handtowel he held and keeping his voice down so his mother wouldn’t hear in the kitchen.

“I’m meeting my new neighbours,” Erwin said cheerfully.

Jean stared at Erwin for an exceptionally long time in silence. The Werewolf seemed content to wait him out, and Jean crossed his arms over his bare chest when he saw Erwin’s gaze lowering. Jean should’ve put a fucking shirt on before wandering back in here once he’d realized who was waiting for him.

“I think I just hallucinated,” he said coldly. “Did you just say you were meeting your new neighbours?”

When Erwin just smiled knowingly at him, Jean let out a sigh and pinched at the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on.

“Please tell me you did _not_  move into the house next door. Tell me you didn’t.” When he looked back at Erwin, the man was still smiling and Jean snapped. “How did-how did you even manage that? It was _literally_  still owned by the old lady yesterday! She was legit still sitting on her porch in a rocking chair and Connie and Sasha were still leeching off her free WiFi so how did-how did you do that? Did you-did you _eat_  her?” Jean’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, _did_  you eat her?!”

Erwin gave him a look. “No.”

That was a relief, at least, but just barely. It still didn’t explain how Erwin was suddenly his neighbour.

“The last time I came to Shiganshina, she and I ran into one another at the coffeeshop.” Jean knew Erwin would’ve been able to smell her, and would’ve known from his visits to his place that she was his neighbour.

Damn fucking Werewolves and their stupid noses.

“She’s been wanting to move out for a while, go into assisted living or a care home. She and I spoke about it for a while when we met, but she doesn’t have any family and was concerned about not having help finding a good place and moving down there. When I went home to Trost, I looked into a few places and she and I have been corresponding via email until we fell on one she liked. I came by yesterday to help her with the paperwork and once we were done I asked if I could buy her house. I was very generous, if I do say so myself.” Erwin smiled brightly, as if expecting Jean to praise him for his generosity. “I signed the paperwork this morning, but won’t be moving in until I help her move out to Trost. We’ve got everything set up for the end of the week to get her moved out there, then I’ll be officially moving in next week.”

Jean slapped himself hard across the face, which had Erwin jerk, startled, and his mother rush into the living room to demand to know what happened.

“Not dreaming. Okay. That’s great.” Jean turned on his heel and walked past his mother into the kitchen. He dropped the handtowel, then left the room to head back up the stairs. When he made it to his room, he shut his door, fell onto his bed, and screamed into his pillow.

This couldn’t be happening. This could _not_  be happening! If _Erwin_  was here, that meant the whole fucking _pack_  was coming. That meant Hanji, and however many others were on their way _right now_ and they were going to turn into a fucking Werewolf town and Jean was _never sleeping again_!

Reaching for his phone, he found Armin’s name and hit the call button, holding the phone to his ear and trying not to have a mental breakdown.

_“Hello?”_

“Tell me you didn’t know,” he said, voice rough and fear of betrayal in his tone. “Tell me you didn’t find out until just now.”

_“What are you talking about?”_ Armin asked, sounding confused. _“Jean, I can’t talk right now, my grandfather said that he has a really busy day today with showing some of our places for sale. Twelve meetings. Can you believe it? Who wants to move to Shiganshina?”_

“Erwin!” Jean shouted, sitting up and punching his pillow. “Erwin does! With the rest of his pack! He just bought the place next door!”

Silence.

_“Oh.”_

“What do you mean ‘oh’?! This isn’t an ‘oh’ situation, Armin! Erwin is my _neighbour_! He’s going to-he’s going to break out in the middle of the night and crawl into my room and eat my liver!” Jean scrubbed a hand down his face, feeling his panic beginning to rise and trying to reign it in.

It was bad enough having _two_  Werewolves in town, but at least one of them was Mikasa, and _both_  of them could be more or less controlled by Eren. Erwin and the rest of his pack weren’t like that. They weren’t going to stop if Eren yelled at them to. They would just barrel right through him, killing him in the process, and then keep going.

Jean couldn’t handle this. This wasn’t something he wanted. Now he felt like he _did_  need to leave this damn place. He’d almost gotten eaten twice, and he wasn’t keen on a third attempt. Third time’s the charm, after all, and he didn’t think that was in his favour.

_“I didn’t know,”_ Armin promised. _“I know grandpa had a meeting this morning with someone who bought a place on your street, but I didn’t know it was next door and I didn’t know it was Erwin, I promise.”_

“I believe you.” Jean sighed and rubbed the back of his head, fingers sliding along his undercut.

_“Jean, it’ll be okay. Levi escaping was just because of Eren, but things are okay now. The others won’t get out, Erwin is a responsible man. It’ll be okay.”_

Nothing was okay, but Jean couldn’t say that to Armin. He didn’t understand. That was the shitty thing. Nobody _really_  understood, because nobody had been through what Jean had. Yes, Eren had almost died, and yes, Armin had also been kidnapped, but Jean had been missing for _weeks_. He’d been locked in a warehouse, malnourished and sleep-deprived, staring at a cage with a half-dead Werewolf and trying his damnedest to keep his sanity. Nobody understood the extent to which he’d suffered, and while he knew Eren had a lot of problems himself because of Annie, at least he had Levi. At least he could go to sleep and wake up feeling safe and protected.

Jean didn’t have that. Jean slept with a paintball gun beside his bed and a jar of wolfsbane under his pillow and knew that neither of those things could protect him from virtually all things that went bump in the night.

He was going to have to up his sessions with Oluo. Convenient, he supposed, since Oluo would now be _in town_. He could go by every fucking day and try and get himself back to some semblance of normal.

Jean forgot he was on the phone until Armin said his name rather loudly and he grunted that he was fine and hung up. Rubbing at his face with both hands, he stood to put some real clothes on, yanking a shirt over his head and trading out his sweats for jeans. He got socks on and pushed his phone, wallet and keys into his pockets before heading out, intent on going to Eren’s.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs and started for the entrance to put his shoes on, his mother called for him and he stared at the ceiling, praying for patience and safety, and then moved into the living room.

“Where are you going?” she asked, her tone polite but her expression clearly stating she was unimpressed with how rude he was being.

“Eren’s.”

“He’ll still be sleeping at this hour. Why don’t you join us here?” It was an order phrased as a question. Jean occasionally whined and bitched and ignored his mother—he was a bad son that way—but he didn’t think that would go over well today. Especially with Erwin staring at him so intently.

Gritting his teeth and letting out a sigh, he moved to sit on the couch as far away from Erwin as he could, crossing his arms like a petulant child and glaring at the far wall. His mother seemed satisfied, even if she wasn’t happy, and she and Erwin went back to whatever they’d been talking about.

When he was out of tea, Jean’s mother stood to fetch them some more, and said she’d bring out some of the banana bread as well before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Jean and Erwin sat in silence for a long while, but when Jean noticed the other open his mouth in his peripheral, he spoke first to cut him off at the pass.

“I swear to God, Erwin, if you pee on _anything_  in this house to mark your territory or whatever, I’ll fucking kill you.”

The blank expression he was met with after that comment chilled him to the bone, and when Erwin spoke, he felt like he should’ve kept his mouth shut.

“There’s only one thing in this house I would want to pee on.”

The two stared at one another for a long while before it clicked and Jean’s face morphed into a mask of horror before he jerked to his feet. “Wha—dude! _Dude_!” he insisted, more emphatically, and made a disgusted face. “No. No!” He pointed one finger at Erwin. “Bad dog. _Bad_  dog! Seriously, I have wolfsbane upstairs!”

“Mm hm.” Erwin gave him a look. “Don’t start what you can’t finish.”

“I hate-I hate everything.” Jean raked both hands through his hair and began to pace. “I hate everything. I have to move out, now. I have no choice. I can’t stay here, I have to move.”

“Jean, calm down,” Erwin insisted. “I’m not _actually_  going to pee on you. We don’t do that, or else Eren would smell like a sewer.”

Jean ignored him and just kept pacing, trying to get his head back on straight.

“Jean.”

Two hands fell onto his shoulders and he started violently, but couldn’t pull away from the grip. When he looked up at Erwin, the other suddenly looked serious, as if realizing that Jean was legitimately about to have a mental breakdown and not just being overdramatic.

“Do you want me to call Oluo? Are you okay?”

“Nothing’s been okay for months,” Jean got out, then turned when his mother made a noise of surprise at the door.

She was holding a tray with two cups of tea and some of the banana bread on a plate. Her eyes were shifting back and forth uncertainly between the two of them and Erwin let his hands drop from Jean’s shoulders. Jean forced himself to sit back down, trying to avoid hugging himself and only just succeeding.

“Is everything all right?” she asked uncertainly, moving forward to set the tray on the coffee table.

“Everything’s fine,” Jean said quietly. “It’s nothing.”

“Do you-do you know each other?” she asked, looking between them once more as Erwin took a seat. Jean noticed he made sure to keep his distance from him, and he appreciated it.

“We do,” Erwin said, and before he could continue, Jean interrupted.

“Eren,” he blurted out. “Eren. It’s through Eren, we know each other through Eren. Erwin is Levi’s best friend, that’s how we know each other, that’s the only way we know each other, there’s no other way.”

Erwin gave him a weird look but his mother just smiled, used to Jean’s weirdness and handed over the tea for Erwin. Jean leaned forward to snatch some banana bread, stuffing a huge piece into his mouth. He was fucking starving, and was definitely raiding Eren’s fridge later when he was allowed to leave.

He sat there and munched on the banana bread—that tasted _good_ , damn it, Erwin!—and listened to his mother and Erwin chat. They mostly went along on a conversation about how long Erwin had known Levi, and how they’d met and so on. Jean found it interesting to hear the little truths in the story, because obviously some things had to be changed considering their monthly problem.

“Oh, you know, I just _adore_  Levi,” his mother said with a kind smile. “He’s an amazing person, and so forgiving. It was a great experience, being able to sit down and get to know him after everything that happened. Such a kind man, a _very_  good influence on Eren. He’s really making an honest man out of Eren.”

Jean and Erwin shared a look at that and he couldn’t help but wonder if his mother knew what she’d just said. Levi was definitely _not_  making an honest man out of Eren, unless making an honest man out of someone meant defiling them on an almost nightly basis.

The phone rang before Jean could correct her and she cursed quietly before excusing herself to head back into the kitchen. If Jean didn’t know any better, he’d swear she was trying to give them time alone or something. It was weirding him out.

“Why did you react like that?” Erwin asked.

Jean turned to him, in the middle of stuffing another obscenely large piece of banana bread into his mouth. “Like what?” he asked around a mouthful of food.

“When she asked how we knew each other.”

Jean swallowed what was in his mouth and shot a look at the door, making sure his mother was truly distracted. He turned back to Erwin, playing with the edge of the piece of food he still held in his hands and pulling off a few crumbling pieces.

“My mom still kinda has a hard time about the whole, you know, what happened. Whenever she’s reminded of it, it sets her off, so I try not to bring it up as much as possible.” He winced. “Honestly, I also still really struggle with what happened. I mean, you know, it was traumatic.” Jean rubbed one hand along his undercut and sighed. “I’m trying to-I try not to think about it, you know? I try not to push it in my mom’s face, either, so maybe try not to remind her that you’re the dude who almost died and had to get airlifted to Trost.”

Erwin watched him for a long while after that, and when he shifted closer, Jean tensed. He didn’t do it in a creepy way, though, and Jean could tell he was just worried, but still. Jean had just barely started being able to deal with what happened, and now Erwin was moving in next door.

A constant reminder of his time in the warehouse. He didn’t know how Erwin was so fucking chill about it all.

“Jean, I know what happened was traumatic for all parties involved, and I know you’ve been speaking to Oluo, but if you ever need to speak to someone with first-hand experience in the matter, you can always speak to me. I hope you understand this.”

Jean tried not to flinch when Erwin reached out to drag one hand along his cheek and down his neck. Erwin either didn’t notice or didn’t care that he was making him uncomfortable.

He left his hand on Jean’s throat, as if keeping track of his pulse, and only dropped it when they heard his mother call farewell and hang up the phone before heading back into the living room.

“So sorry about that. Where were we?”

“Actually, I was thinking perhaps we could go out for some tea,” Erwin said with a charming smile. “I don’t want to keep Jean much longer than I already have, but I’d love to continue our conversation. I enjoy Hannes’ a great deal, would you be willing to join me?”

Jean rolled his eyes when his mother got all flustered, and wondered why the freaky Werewolf eyes weren’t working on her. Then again, maybe he was lowering their intensity as far down as possible to make a good impression or something.

When he was finally allowed to leave, Jean hurried from the room, ignoring Erwin’s eyes on his retreating back, and pulled on his sneakers. Rushing out of the house, he glared at Erwin’s pristine SUV in the neighbouring driveway. He didn’t remember him having that car before, which meant he’d just bought it recently with all the millions of dollars he had, the douche.

It took him a few tries to get the door of his truck open, almost hitting himself in the face with it when it finally gave way. Clambering in, he slammed the door, started the engine, and was already halfway down the street before Erwin and his mother exited the house.

He made it to Eren’s in no time and hurried up the steps. He almost broke his shoulder when he went to open the door and found it locked. It had been for the past few months since the incident, but it was hard to erase twenty-two years of habit. Thankfully the thump alerted Carla of his arrival and she opened the door without him even having to knock or ring the bell.

“Hello Jean,” she said with a smile. “Did you forget again?”

“Forget what?” Jean blinked, then cursed. “Right. Sorry.”

“That’s all right,” she said to his retreating back while he hurried back down the driveway.

Eren had moved in with Levi almost two months ago, but it was still hard to remember that. It was still kind of weird, so he often tended to forget and showed up at his home.

Starting the car once more, he pulled back onto the road and headed for Levi’s place. Though he supposed it was Levi and _Eren_ ’s place, now. He ignored most traffic laws on his way there, blowing through two stop signs and ignoring someone changing lanes. He made it to the hill and his truck chugged pathetically up it until he reached the top. Levi’s truck was gone, but Eren’s was parked where it always was and Jean stopped his own beside it.

Leaping out of the truck, he moved to the front door and tried it, finding it locked. Levi was paranoid that way. Sighing, he moved to the edge of the porch and climbed up onto the railing, pulling himself up onto the sloped roof and moving to the spare room’s window. Levi kept threatening to electrocute the window to stop Jean from getting in that way, but to date, he still hadn’t done it.

Apparently the window stayed open to let air into the house, since only Jean was stupid enough to risk breaking his neck by getting to it. Jean didn’t think that was true, but most people were still scared of Levi, so who else would break into his house? Besides, if he didn’t break in, he’d never see Eren, since the asshole never answered the doorbell if he was sleeping when it rang.

Jean would know, he’d once stood on the porch ringing it repeatedly for ten minutes, and Eren hadn’t shown any signs of life.

Falling unceremoniously in a heap on the floor, Jean rubbed at his elbow while walking through the room and pushed the door open. He headed a few doors down to Levi and Eren’s room and then pushed it open, finding Eren passed out and drooling on the bed, one arm over the side and the other spread out beside him, presumably where Levi had been before heading out.

“Eren.” Jean sat down on his friend’s back and began poking insistently at every inch of skin he could reach. “Eren. Dude. Wake up. Dude, wake up. Wake up. Eren.”

His friend batted at him pathetically with one hand, groaning, and tried to roll over but couldn’t since Jean was still sitting on him.

“Eren, wake up.” He began shaking him, Eren starting to smack at him harder. “Eren.”

“What?” Eren whined, shoving at Jean with one arm until his friend slid off him onto the mattress and he could roll over away from him. “Go away, Jean.”

“Dude, this is important. Wake up.”

“Levi,” Eren whined. “Get rid of him.”

“Levi’s not here.”

“Figures,” Eren grumbled sleepily.

Jean just kept poking at him and calling his name until Eren let out an explosive sigh and sat up. His hair was matted down on one side, sleep lines and drool on half his face, and eyes barely open.

“I thought when I moved in here you would be too scared to come by and I’d actually manage to get some _sleep_. But no. Apparently not.”

“Dude, did you know Erwin was moving to Shiganshina?” Jean asked immediately, now that he had Eren’s attention.

His friend blinked at him. “Didn’t I tell you? I totally thought I told you.”

“You knew?!” Jean grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a violent shake. “Eren, he moved in _next door_! He probably ate my neighbour so he could buy her house!”

“If Erwin was going to eat anyone, it’d be you.”

Jean made a face at that, and even Eren seemed to realize that was a poor choice of words before he winced and sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

“What’s the big deal? Erwin’s not going to actually _touch_  you, you know.”

“He _does_  touch me!” Jean insisted. “Repeatedly!”

“Not like _that_.” Eren rolled his eyes. “You, Armin and I are like unofficial members of his pack. It’s kind of a big deal, since we’re human and all. Don’t get so bent out of shape about it.” Eren lay back down, turning his back on Jean. “It’s not a big deal.”

“You, Eren Jaeger, are a bad friend.”

“So I’ve been told. Don’t forget to lock up on your way out.”

“I hate you,” Jean informed him, getting to his feet and leaving the way he’d come.

If he fell off the roof and almost broke his neck on the way down, nobody needed to know about it as he cursed the entire way back to his truck.

* * *

It took Erwin and two of his buddies only one and a half hours to move all of his items from the moving truck into his house. Not that Jean had been watching or anything, no way. He definitely hadn’t been keeping an eye on the move at all, nope.

Erwin left with his friends soon after, and Jean just grumbled angrily at the knowledge that he was going to help _them_  move in, now. Armin had already confirmed twelve sales from the twelve appointments the previous week. He couldn’t believe _all_  of Erwin’s pack was moving to the middle of nowhere. Didn’t they care about leaving their territory?

Didn’t _Erwin_?!

Trost was their territory, and they’d just abandoned it to move to Shiganshina like a bunch of idiots. This was stupid, and insane. Jean wasn’t conceited enough to think Erwin was moving there just for him, but he knew he played a part in it. The bigger part was Levi, Erwin not liking their pack split up like this, but still! He couldn’t believe the whole pack had followed.

This was a disaster. They were all going to die.

Him especially. Next door to a fucking Werewolf, damn his life!

He needed to do something about this, and sadly, there was only one person he could ask. Thankfully he also knew where to find said person, _and_  knew that he couldn’t escape him right now, so Jean quickly left the house and got into his truck, heading for the Jaeger’s store.

As predicted, he found Levi sitting behind the counter on his laptop when he parked the truck. Levi knew he was there, since he could hear his truck, but he didn’t turn around. Jean exited the vehicle and headed for the door, wondering if Levi regretted having agreed to being one of the shift managers. He and Eren never worked together anymore.

Then again, they both always hung around whenever the other was working, except when Levi had the morning shift, because Eren was a lazy asshole who never got out of bed.

Like today.

Pushing open the door, he walked right up to the counter after doing a quick check that the store was empty and placed both hands on either side of the laptop. Levi didn’t acknowledge him and continued to type.

“I need a favour,” he informed him.

“No,” Levi said immediately.

“Hey, I saved your life, remember?” Jean insisted, pointing one finger almost right in Levi’s face.

The Werewolf didn’t even acknowledge it, continuing with what he was doing. “There’s only so many times you can use that reasoning, because you’ve used it at least eight times already.” His fingers paused so he could look up at him and Jean swallowed hard at the intensity in his gaze, knowing Levi was trying to scare him off with his look but he stood his ground. “Every time something doesn’t go your way, you can’t just keep using the fact that you saved my life as a way to get what you want.”

“Okay, fair, but listen, I need you to tell me how to get rid of Erwin.” Jean put his hand back on the counter. Levi leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. Jean had evidently gotten his attention with those words. “Levi, he moved in _next door_. Like, this isn’t cool. I need you to help me get rid of him, get him to leave me alone. Like, how do I-how do I _do_  that?”

The small smirk beginning to quirk the corners of Levi’s lips wasn’t comforting. “You can’t. Erwin wants to fuck you.”

Jean let out a horrified sound and leaned forward, as if to cover Levi’s mouth with both hands, but they were violently slapped away, the older man glaring at him.

“No!” Jean insisted. “No, no. You _cannot_  have the words ‘Erwin’ and ‘fuck’ and ‘you’ in the same sentence. That is _not_  okay!”

“I’m sorry, would you prefer I say my Pack Leader wants to ram his dick so far up your ass it comes out of your mouth?”

Jean let out another horrified exclamation, heading for the door and pointing one finger at him. “I fucking hate you so much. I hate you so much, I can’t-I can’t even. I just-I hate you.”

“Have fun,” Levi called as Jean exited the store. “Use lots of lube, I hear he’s got a monster cock.”

“Hate you,” Jean called, walking backwards towards his truck and knowing Levi could still hear him. “Never should’ve saved you. Bad call on my part.”

He could see Levi’s shoulders shaking, the dick laughing at him, but just scowled and climbed into his truck after wrestling with the door. He drove to Hannes’ on autopilot, figuring maybe he could research how to keep Werewolves out of his house. He should’ve been doing that leading up to Erwin’s official arrival, but a part of him had been hoping he was just fucking with him.

Apparently not.

Parking his truck in his usual spot, he walked into the coffeeshop and instantly froze. He hadn’t been paying attention to the cars in the lot, but he should’ve since he’d just walked in to Erwin sitting at a table with Oluo and some other dude he didn’t know.

Jean turned to exit immediately and walked right into someone’s waiting arms.

“Jean!” Arms wrapped around him so tightly he felt like he was being crushed. “Aw, look at you! All grown up and handsome with stubble and everything!” He was rocked violently from side to side while Hanji rubbed their cheek against his own, scent-marking him with the action.

“Off, off!” Jean yelled, shoving and kicking at Hanji violently. “Get off! Off! Bad dog!” He slapped his hands pathetically against their chest until they laughed and pulled away from him. They didn’t release him entirely though and just wrapped an arm around his shoulders, dragging him across the coffeeshop.

“Erwin, look who I found!” Jean was practically shoved into the booth beside Erwin, Hanji sliding in beside him and trapping him between them.

“Jean,” Erwin said with a smile. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Surprise my ass, this is _my_  coffeeshop!” Jean insisted angrily, stabbing one finger against the table. “You _knew_  I’d show up eventually, don’t ‘what a surprise’ me, you liar!”

The only person at the table that he didn’t know began to laugh. “He’s spirited, isn’t he?”

“You have no idea,” Oluo said haughtily. “Try being his therapist.”

“If it weren’t for you assholes, I wouldn’t _need_  therapy,” Jean hissed, slouching in his seat and crossing his arms angrily. He was stuck between two Werewolves, he highly doubted he’d be able to escape.

“Jean, Gunther. Gunther, Jean,” Erwin said, motioning between them. “Gunther’s the one who fixed Eren’s truck.”

“After you wrecked it trying to eat him,” Jean hissed. Erwin ignored his comment and went back to whatever conversation they’d been having before his arrival.

Gunther slid out of the booth a few minutes later, and when he returned he set a coffee down in front of Jean, and had a pastry for himself. Jean wanted to be annoyed, but he really needed his caffeine fix right now, so he picked it up and took a sip, but under _heavy_  protest! He wasn’t drinking it for any reason other than to stave off a caffeine headache!

His computer was wedged between him and Erwin, which he found some comfort in since it acted as a shield, but it also meant he was losing valuable time researching things and wouldn’t have his house Werewolf-proofed by bedtime.

They sat and chatted for close to an hour before Oluo and Gunther left, advising that they were going to help other members of the pack finish their moves. Hanji waved them off jovially and then moved across the table so they were on the other side.

Jean took the opening and left the booth, moving to his usual table in the corner and glaring angrily at the other two, both of whom seemed amused by his move and his anger.

Ignoring them, he called for Hannes to coffee him and took his laptop out, opening a new document and beginning to research how to keep unwanted visitors out of his house. It was slow going because, as always, he had to sift through details that may or may not be real, and figure out which ones he believed and which ones he didn’t.

He knew silver worked, but he doubted his parents would be cool with him adding silver bars to his door and window. Wolfsbane was only really something he wanted to use as a last resort, given he’d seen its effects first-hand and wasn’t exactly interested in _murdering_  anyone. Even if a wolf got out and attacked him, he would really only use it if he had no choice. Beneath that wolf was a person, and Jean wasn’t a murderer.

He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn’t notice when Erwin and Hanji left. He just looked up for more coffee at one point and the booth was empty. He didn’t pay it any mind and kept working, and thought he might have found something that would work when he leapt a mile high at the bag that fell by his elbow.

“Fuck almighty!” he shouted, which earned him an angry shout about language from Hannes.

Nevermind the place was empty save for him and his new seatmate. Which was Erwin. Of course.

“Have you been sitting here all day?” he asked, pulling a burger from a McDonalds bag and setting it on the table in front of him.

Jean frowned, shifting to look at the bag beside him, and realized Erwin had left town to get some junk food. When he snuck a peek inside, he found a Big Mac, a large fry and two apple pies. Eren had probably blabbed on his usual order, the asshole.

“I’m working,” he informed Erwin, which wasn’t entirely a lie, just not the whole truth, either.

“Do you not usually take a break for dinner?”

“Sometimes.” Jean didn’t _want_  to eat the food, but Erwin munching away at his own burger was making his stomach growl and he conceded defeat, stuffing his hand into the paper bag and pulling out the Big Mac, opening the box it was in and taking a huge bite.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” Jean asked, licking his lips and then wiping one arm across his mouth to catch whatever his tongue hadn’t. “Shouldn’t you and your pack be celebrating ruining my life?”

Erwin looked amused, but didn’t comment on it. “We have two more coming tomorrow. We decided we would have a get-together once everyone was here and settled. Perhaps this weekend. Eren and Armin are coming, as is Mikasa given she is now a member of the pack. It would be nice if you’d join them. Connie and Sasha have been invited, as well.”

“Thanks, I’m busy.” Jean took another bite of his burger.

“I haven’t even given you the date yet.”

“I’m busy for the rest of forever,” Jean told him childishly, taking another bite of his food. Some mayonnaise dribbled over the side of his hand and he licked at it, noticing Erwin’s eyes watching him do so. Clearing his throat, he put the burger down and reached into the bag for some napkins, wiping his hands off with that instead. “Besides, humans will kill the mood. Best I stay away from the group at large.”

“Jean.” Erwin set his food down and folded his hands together, leaning forward. “I know this isn’t ideal for you. I understand you’re concerned, and afraid—”

“I’m not afraid. Who said I was afraid? Was it Eren? It was Eren. That dickwad doesn’t know what he’s talking about, I’m _not_  afr—”

Erwin’s gaze hardened and Jean jerked back in his seat, feeling paralysed with fear and wishing he could run even while being rooted to the spot. The Werewolf kept his eyes locked on him for a long moment, then slowly lowered the intensity of his gaze and offered Jean an apologetic smile.

“Eren told me that Armin had once advised he get more exposure to the bunnies.” When Jean gave him a weird look, he laughed and picked his food back up. “Apparently it was his method of asking for help with being less afraid of Levi after what happened when I tore apart his truck. Exposure will help, and you must know I would never let any harm come to you. Please come, it would mean a lot to me.”

Jean licked his lips. “It’s not that simple.”

“Then explain it to me.”

Jean frowned, avoiding his eyes, and shifted his chair a bit closer to the table so he could take another bite of his food. He chewed slowly, thinking of how best to word it, and settled for, “I’m not okay. The whole...” He trailed off, motioning Erwin with his free hand, and being sure to keep his voice down since Hannes was right there. “I have moments where I think it’s cool, where I remember how excited I was when I first found out about all this, but then I just think back on what happened. I remember not being able to breathe sometimes, not eating or drinking for hours, thinking I was going to die in that warehouse.” He winced and set his burger down, not feeling quite so hungry anymore. “That last day, when Reiner swung at me, all I could think was, ‘this is it. This is how I go.’ And when I woke up, it was such a relief. But the relief didn’t last long, because on its heels came memories. Memories of what happened, what I endured, what I _saw_. Talking to Oluo only gets me so far, the rest I need to figure out for myself and it’s-it’s hard.”

Jean winced, rubbing awkwardly at his arm before licking his lips and speaking again. “Seeing you is a constant reminder of what I went through. I know it’s not your fault, and I know you suffered just as much, but I just... I’m not okay. I don’t know if I’ll ever _be_  okay. And going to a party to welcome the arrival of a whole bunch of people like you when I almost got eaten by my best friend’s boyfriend _and_  sister isn’t exactly something I feel like celebrating.”

Erwin nodded slowly. “That’s fair. I’m sorry my presence reminds you of what happened, but perhaps a better way of looking at it is that we both survived it. You thought I was going to die, but I didn’t. You thought _you_  were going to die, but you didn’t. I think focussing on what could’ve happened but didn’t is much better than obsessing over what _did_  happen, don’t you think?”

Jean just shrugged in response. Erwin said nothing else, so Jean pushed his food aside and went back to his research. He expected Erwin to leave after he was done eating, but he instead pulled out a book and began to read. They were both silent for close to an hour before Jean couldn’t take it anymore.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Reading.”

Rolling his eyes, he said, “Here, I mean. What are you doing sitting here with me reading?”

Erwin watched him silently for a moment before closing his book and setting it down on the table. “Your mother expressed some concerns with me earlier this week during one of my visits. She said you used to stay out until all hours of the night doing research, but that ever since your return you’ve been coming home earlier and earlier. While I understand my presence is unwelcome, I thought perhaps having me here with you would help chase away some of your fears. Given we live next door to one another, it’s not a problem for me to follow you home.”

Jean stared at him, a little startled. Erwin was staying with him because he wanted Jean to feel safer? Really?

Smirking slightly, likely at the expression on Jean’s face, Erwin reached for his book and picked it back up, opening it to the appropriate page once more before saying, “Besides, I like spending time with you.”

“All I do is freak out at you and tell you not to touch me.”

“Perhaps, but I’ll take what I can get.”

“You’re a creepy motherfucker,” Jean said, reaching into the bag and stuffing a handful of fries into his mouth.

“Perhaps,” Erwin said again with a small smile. “But we can work on your perception of me another time.”

Jean just gave him an annoyed look and went back to his research.

They didn’t leave until half-past eleven, and while Jean would never admit it aloud, he felt _much_  safer having a Werewolf stick close to him the entire way home, even if he _still_  hadn’t exactly figured out how to keep him out of his house.

* * *

Jean was back at Hannes’ the next morning to get some work done, since he’d been falling behind due to personal reasons. His boss was pretty understanding given what had happened to him over the past few months—including having to testify in the trial, which was oodles of fun—but he didn’t want to press his luck.

He liked his job, and his boss, so he needed to get his shit together so he didn’t _lose_  said job. He had bills to pay, after all. Well, kind of, since he still lived with his parents and they tended to pay the bills, but still! He planned on moving out one day, and that meant he needed some cash!

So he was sitting in Hannes’ on his third cup of coffee when he looked up at the door opening and almost spat his drink out.

A babe had just fucking walked in. A downright, honest to God, motherfucking _babe_. And Jean had been in love with Mikasa for _years_ , so for him to think someone was a fucking babe meant they had to be fucking _hot_.

She looked around the small shop when she entered, smiled at Jean when she saw him looking, and headed for the counter. Jean watched her order her drink, wait for it, and then head for a table across the shop, sitting in a seat that was facing him.

When he started to go back to work, he noticed her glance up at him out of the corner of his eye. She had her phone out, typing something out on it, but every few seconds she would look up at him and smile to herself. Jean felt hot all over instantly. Was he being checked out? Like, for real? Some girl actually thought he was worthwhile?

Had he fallen into a different universe? He liked this universe, he hoped Werewolves didn’t exist in this universe.

He kept working while drinking his coffee, but he and the girl glanced at one another constantly for the better part of an hour. She even smiled and blushed every now and then before looking back down at her phone. Jean wondered who she was, and whether or not he was being stupid not going over to talk to her.

After the hour mark had officially passed, he reached deep within himself for the old Jean—the pre-Werewolves and everything going to shit Jean—and stood up. He offered the girl his best smile while walking up to her and took a seat across from her.

The smile she’d had on her own face faltered the moment he sat down and she let out a small sigh, deflating slightly. He didn’t understand, but tried not to let it bother him, still smiling confidently. Before he could say anything, the woman spoke first.

“Oh, okay.”

Jean frowned, not quite understanding, and instead of saying something smart and suave, like he’d been planning, he instead said, “What?”

“Oh, sorry.” She laughed a little, and it was fucking _adorable_. “I just didn’t know you were off limits.”

Those words made even less sense and Jean blinked at her in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

She eyed him uncertainly, hesitated, then asked, “You’re Jean, right? Jean Kirschstein?”

Startled at being known, he eyed her warily and said slowly, “Yeah, I’m Jean. How do you-how do you know that?”

The girl smiled at him, then reached up to tap her nose. It took only a second for Jean to understand and he deflated instantly, rubbing at his face with both hands. He should’ve known. What had he been thinking? A new babe randomly walked into the coffeeshop at the same time as Erwin’s pack moving into town. How could he _possibly_  not have put that together? He was a fucking idiot.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he muttered to himself, dragging his hands down his face. He was sure he looked _extremely_  attractive just then, but considering this was another Werewolf, he didn’t really care. “So,” he said, letting his hands drop, “enlighten me. Why, exactly, am I off limits?”

She looked startled at the question, and when she answered, she sounded like she didn’t understand why Jean was asking. “You belong to Erwin.”

Jean stared at her. “I what?”

“He’s been scent-marking you,” she said slowly, uncertainly. “He’s staked his claim on you. You’re off limits to the rest of us. I mean, I can smell some Hanji in there, too, but Hanji’s different, they’re not staking their claim, they just really like you. But Erwin’s made it pretty clear who you belong to.”

The two of them stared at one another for what felt like an eternity before Jean said, “Hannes, I’ll be right back.”

The older man called out his confirmation while Jean got to his feet and headed for the door. Exiting the coffeeshop, he headed for his truck, unlocked it, climbed in, and slammed the door. Once he was sure nobody but the nearby Werewolves would be able to hear, he let out a loud scream. He wasn’t sure if it was anger, terror or just frustration.

“Oh my God, you are ruining my life!” he shouted to the void, hoping Erwin could hear him from wherever he was. He punched at the air angrily for a few seconds, and then let his head fall onto the steering wheel, the horn blaring loudly. He couldn’t bring himself to care enough to move off it so it just sounded loudly and annoyingly for a good minute before he finally sat up once more. Letting out a slow breath, he climbed out of the truck and headed back inside. The girl was still sitting at her table, looking uncomfortable, but Jean walked right past her to his own seat and fell back into it.

He saw her texting for a few minutes before she left the shop. Literally two minutes later, Erwin walked in and sat down across from Jean, setting saran-wrapped brownies on the table and pushing them closer to him.

“Food is not the way to this man’s heart,” Jean informed him coldly.

“As I understand it, caffeine is.”

“Damn it, Eren!” Jean threw his hands in the air.

Erwin smirked at him before letting out a small laugh. “Actually, that one I figured out for myself.”

“Oh.” Jean scowled anyway. “You need to tell your people that I don’t _belong_  to anyone. Least of all you. I know we had moments and whatever while we were trapped in that warehouse, but I don’t think it’s fair you’re chasing away people with your territory shit.”

“What territory shit?” Erwin asked with a pleasant smile. “This?” He reached out and touched Jean’s cheek before he could react fast enough to stop him. He’d already dragged his hand partway to his neck before Jean unfroze and slapped it away violently.

“Stop that!”

“If you want to set the record straight, sounds like the only way to do that is to come to the party this weekend.”

Jean narrowed his eyes at him. “You did this on purpose.”

“I wish I could say I did, but I didn’t. Merely a happy coincidence that benefits me.” Erwin smiled and stood, reaching out to touch him again but Jean was faster this time and ducked his hand, slapping at it again. “I’ll see you later, Jean. Try to remember to have dinner tonight.”

Jean liked Erwin better when he _wasn’t_  trying to get into his pants.

* * *

“If you don’t want to go, then don’t,” Eren insisted while he drove the truck down the street towards his shared house with Levi. “If you’re just going to be rude and angry all night, stay home.”

“I can’t,” he groused. “Erwin made everyone think I’m his property. I need to set the record straight.”

Eren rolled his eyes, signalling to turn up Rose street and beginning to climb to the top. The party to welcome the pack to Shiganshina was taking place at Levi’s, since it was large and mostly out of the way. They could be as loud and rowdy as they wanted, and it was unlikely to bother the neighbours unlike Erwin’s house or Hanji’s. Most of the pack had gotten out of the way places similar to Levi’s. Nobody’s was as secluded as his, but they’d all tried relatively hard to get places where they’d be left alone.

Erwin and Hanji were the only ones who hadn’t. Erwin, of course, had moved in next door to Jean, and Hanji had bought one of the places as close to the convenience store as possible, something which Levi was pissed about because it gave them an excuse to visit at literally all hours. Eren didn’t seem to mind, but Levi sure did.

When they reached the top of the hill, there were already a large amount of vehicles parked around the area on the lawn. Eren’s spot had been left empty, probably Levi’s doing, and he parked in it as normal, Levi’s truck on his left and Mikasa’s car parked on the right. She and Armin had come up early with Erwin to help set everything up.

Jean had opted to wait for Eren to finish work, since he’d be the _last_  to arrive, and the later Jean arrived, the better. He also planned on being the first one to _leave_.

They climbed out of the truck and headed for the front door, opening it to loud laughter and conversations. A few people shouted Eren’s name like he was an old friend and dragged him into the living room to talk to him, but Jean just scowled and stuck close to the wall, hunting down Armin.

He found him speaking to the girl from the coffeeshop and Mikasa in the kitchen. He was holding what looked like a can of Coke, but Jean spotted some beer in a cooler by the counter and made a bee-line for it, grabbing one and popping the tab before downing the entire can in one go. Gasping for breath once he’d emptied it, he tossed it into the sink to join what seemed to be a started pile of empty cans and grabbed another, opening this one and drinking only half of it before joining his friends.

The girl gave him an awkward smile he ignored when he joined them, and he listened to Armin chatter away about all the amazing, awesome things about Shiganshina.

“Yeah, so many awesome things,” Jean agreed when Armin had paused to take a drink of his pop. “Like being kidnapped and held captive for weeks on end and almost getting murdered by a psychopathic Caster and then almost getting eaten by a Werewolf. Best place on earth.”

The other three stared at him as he toasted with his mostly empty can and then downed what was left. He tossed it into the sink from where he stood and moved for another one. He popped the tab and began drinking it instantly, moving away from the group of them and further into the house. He was mad that every person he saw save for Armin and Eren was a fucking Werewolf. He didn’t see Connie or Sasha, but it was possible they hadn’t come. Who wanted to be trapped in a house of death, anyway?

Jean fell onto the stairs heavily, sitting at the bottom of them and drinking his beer. It occurred to him he hadn’t eaten and was on his third beer in probably under ten minutes, but he didn’t care. If he got drunk, he’d just pass out and have an excuse to leave early, like he wanted. Mikasa would probably drive him home.

With his luck, though, it would most likely be Erwin who’d do it.

“Don’t you think you should slow down?”

“Don’t you think you should go suck Levi’s dick?” Jean asked back, chugging the rest of the can for emphasis and burping loudly in Eren’s face.

His friend scowled at him and squeezed onto the step beside him, taking the empty can from his hands and putting it on the step behind them.

“You’ve been acting weird since everyone moved to town,” he said, eying his friend. “What’s going on with you?”

“I’m not allowed to be unhappy an entire pack of Werewolves moved into town?” he asked, frustrated. “Don’t you remember how I found _out_  about all this? Levi tried to _eat_  me!” He knew his words were beginning to slur, but he was still understandable enough, so he didn’t dwell on it.

“Levi breaking out of his cage was only because of his connection with me. The others aren’t going to do that. They’ve lived in Trost for years and nothing’s happened. I know there’s the possibility of it, but that’s true of anything. It’s possible one of us will die in a car crash, too.” He wrapped one arm around Jean and tugged him into his side, grinning at him. “Try and find comfort in the bigger picture. With a pack of Werewolves in town, nothing else is going to show up. Apparently wolves and Slenderman don’t get along, he won’t be coming by.”

“Hardee har,” Jean said sarcastically.

When a shadow loomed over them, Jean was positive he’d look up and find Erwin, but instead it was Oluo. Just what he needed, his shrink seeing him having a mental breakdown at their welcome to Shiganshina party.

Oluo shooed Eren away before taking his seat beside Jean. He didn’t say anything, which was weird for him, but Jean figured he knew he would only piss him off if he spoke. Silence was safer, and allowed Jean to figure out what he wanted to say, if anything.

“I don’t want you here,” he finally settled on.

“That’s rude,” Oluo said, but he didn’t sound offended.

“Life is more complicated with your weirdness around.”

“Your life was going to change regardless of our presence,” Oluo informed him. “You already knew that. It’s why you’ve been fighting so hard against what you know. Having us here is a constant reminder of the world that no longer exists for you.”

Jean grunted and took Oluo’s beer from his hand. The other let him and he downed that as well before tossing the empty can behind himself.

“Erwin needs to stay away from me.”

“I thought you liked Erwin.”

“He wants to fuck me.”

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, kid, but he’s not the only one.”

Jean turned to him, startled, but Oluo just shrugged. “Not me, I’ve got better taste, but you’re pretty popular in the pack. The only reason no one’s touched you is because you’re off limits. Nobody’s willing to deal with Erwin’s wrath. Maybe you should consider thanking him for keeping more aggressive people away from you instead of bemoaning the fact that a rich, attractive man is interested in you.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be less of a dick as my therapist?” Jean asked grumpily.

“I’m not your therapist right now. I’m someone trying to enjoy a party and annoyed that you’re ruining it for the rest of us.” He stood up then, turning to give Jean a look. “Stay here or go home, but don’t blame us for your problems. You were working through them before we moved to town, so don’t pretend Werewolves are the reason you’re acting this way.”

“Then enlighten me,” Jean said dryly, head fuzzy and heart beating uncomfortably fast in his chest. “What _is_  the reason I’m acting this way?”

“Maybe you don’t hate Erwin as much as you think you do.”

Well. Jean was done with this party. He slapped his hands against his knees and got unsteadily to his feet. He patted Oluo on the chest while passing him and headed for the front door, exiting the house and slamming it behind himself.

Jean began the long walk down Rose street, stumbling a few times and feeling like he probably shouldn’t have had so much to drink right off the bat. Or at least hunted down some food before drinking so much. He couldn’t go home like this, his mother would freak, especially if she found out he’d walked all the way home.

He made it to the bottom of the hill before deciding on where he wanted to go. He wandered slowly down the side of the road for what felt like way too long and finally found himself outside Hannes’. When he tried the door, it was locked and he sighed before falling heavily on the sidewalk in front of the door. The only reason Hannes would’ve closed up early was if he had somewhere else to be or thought Jean wasn’t coming. He wished he’d shown up sooner, now he was stuck sitting on the sidewalk until his head stopped spinning.

He contemplated standing to get some water from the Jaeger’s store, but he knew if Levi and Eren weren’t working the night shift it was likely one of his parents. The last thing he needed was Carla calling his mother to pick him up because he was drunk.

Jean sat there for a good five minutes before an SUV turned into the lot. He winced at the brightness of the lights, but they quickly turned off, the engine dying. Someone climbed out of the front and slammed the door, walking over to him and taking a seat beside him before leaning back and looking up at the sky.

“You’re missing your own party,” he said dryly.

“Perhaps,” Erwin offered, eyes still on the sky, “but I didn’t think it wise to let you wander off on your own while intoxicated.”

Jean said nothing to this and looked up as well. He couldn’t really see much with his vision swimming, but he pretended the sky was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen and just sat there with Erwin, staring up at it.

“Eren is a good friend,” he said after a long silence.

“Yeah, the best,” Jean said dryly. “Came all the way out here to make sure I was okay. Oh wait, no he didn’t.”

“No, he didn’t,” Erwin agreed. “But he sought out the one person he thought could help you and sent them.”

Jean didn’t respond to this, and pointedly ignored Erwin’s gaze on him.

“You and Eren both went through something horrible and traumatic, but they differed. For him, it was about his childhood friend attempting to murder him, and while he isn’t all right, and likely won’t be for a long time, he’s come to terms with what happened and is trying to move forward from it. It seems different for you. You seem to have multiple points of stress and at any given time, one or more of them are hitting you at once.”

Still Jean said nothing. There was nothing for him to say to that accusation, because he knew it was true. Jean _wasn’t_  okay. He hadn’t been in months, and wouldn’t be for years. He just woke up every morning, struggled to remember how to breathe, how to live, and then climbed out of bed. It was never as easy as just waking up anymore.

His anxiety was like a weight on his chest, pressing down and making him panic, reminding him of being suspended from the ceiling, not able to breathe, watching Bertholdt and Reiner do the bare minimum to keep him alive, and even less to keep Erwin alive.

Jean _wanted_  to be okay, but he wasn’t.

He truly wasn’t.

“I don’t know how to be that guy I was before,” Jean said quietly. “He comes out sometimes in brief bursts of hysterics and overdramatic flailings, but he was a different person. He isn’t who I am now and I can’t change that.”

“We’re not asking you to change it, we’re asking you to let us help you.”

Erwin reached out, slowly enough that Jean could stop him if he wanted to, but he didn’t. Erwin’s hand brushed against his cheek, pressing his warm palm against his skin and dragging it down to his throat, letting it rest there much as he had the week before in Jean’s living room.

As much as he hated what the action meant, it was also somehow comforting. It was like a weird sort of wolfy promise that he wasn’t going to let anything happen to him. Like Erwin understood how hard all of this was for Jean, and wanted him to understand that if he needed help, all he had to do was ask.

“Do you like _MarioKart_?” Jean asked, Erwin’s hand still on his neck.

“I’ve never played.”

“Good, means you’ll suck at it.” Jean struggled to his feet, Erwin dropping his hand so he could stand and help him up. “I call Yoshi. You can have whoever you want.”

“Does that mean you’re on the table?”

“Don’t make it weird, dude,” Jean sighed, and started for Erwin’s SUV.

Maybe he wasn’t okay right now. Maybe he wouldn’t be okay for a long time. But he had a Werewolf pseudo-suitor, and a loyal friend, and a Werewolf childhood friend, and he supposed for now, that was enough.

One day he’d get over this whole Werewolf thing, but for now, he just had to take it one day at a time and deal with things as they came.

“By the way,” Jean said, climbing into the truck and slamming the door, “we’re not fucking. I’m not into this whole Werewolf thing.”

“For now.”

“Forever,” Jean insisted, buckling himself in.

Erwin smiled and started the car. “For now.”

“Forever.”

“We’ll see.”

“We won’t.”

They drove in silence, and just as they reached Erwin’s driveway, he said, “We’ll see.”

Jean lacked the energy to argue and just kicked open the door. He was going to fucking _own_ this old man at _MarioKart_.

A small victory, but Jean would take what he could get. For now, it was enough.

Erwin was enough.

**END.**

**Author's Note:**

> I really need to re-watch/re-read SnK, it's been like, 2 years since I have and I don't know if I've got the characters down anymore |D Sorry~


End file.
